Beta love to the lovely CarbConnoisseur.
"I think that's enough for tonight," Dorea cut in forcefully. "I….I think we all need time to process what we've learned and you two need food and a decent night's sleep. Tomorrow, we can begin to discuss what you know and what the plan is going forward. You'll also need to let us know if you need anyone else here. There are people missing tonight."
Glancing at Draco, Hermione nodded. Food sounded blissful if she was honest, although she'd be willing to forgo it for sleeping in a normal bed. It had been far, far too long. "Fine. I already know we need the Prewett twins and the…um Longbottoms? Frank and Alice. I don't know if they're married yet. Oh, and definitely Augusta. And…. Does anyone know how old Kingsley Shacklebolt is?"
"Twenty one," a muscled blond man called. "Benjy Fenwick," He supplied at Hermione's curious look.
"Ah. Well….I'd like him too."
"He's not an Order member, Miss Potter," Dumbledore cut in.
"Make him one," she replied succinctly, cutting over him as he opened his mouth to speak again. "The Weasley's?"
"Molly has not long given birth to twins. She doesn't feel it's safe for her or Arthur to be involved," Benjy offered.
"Fred and George," Hermione murmured before she nodded. "Very well. That's all I can think of. Everyone else appears to be here. Oh actually….Andromeda Tonks."
"Is not interested in joining us," Albus replied, his expression missing his normal twinkling.
"Huh. Really? I wonder when she changed her mind. I still think I'd like to talk to her. I think we'll need her for Regulus." She turned to Draco, "What about your mother?"
"I don't know," he replied honestly.
"Perhaps think about it," she replied softly. "We have time."
He nodded, ignoring the curious looks as he pulled her close, needing the comfort as his mother screaming at him to run before they murdered her flashed through his head. Sensing his thoughts, Hermione hugged him tight. "It won't happen this time, my dragon," she murmured. "We won't let it." He didn't answer her as he buried his head in her hair.
"Right, everyone out," Dorea commanded, ignoring Albus' spluttering. "We meet again tomorrow at eight. Mr. Fenwick, ensure the twins are here."
"Yes Ma'am," Benjy grinned, saluting her as he headed for the floo.
"Dorea…I really do think…."
"Truly Albus, I could not care less what you think right now," she interrupted, her eyes on the broken children clinging to each other in her drawing room. "These children need food and sleep and probably a Healer. A day or two's grace is not going to lose us the war. Now get out of my house. Minerva, if you could send over Poppy, perhaps?"
Minerva nodded, "Aye. They'll be familiar with her at least, and Merlin knows the woman can keep secrets."
Dorea nodded firmly, "Thank you. Mr Lupin, where exactly do you think you are going?"
"I….ah…."
"No. Sit down." She looked around the assembled teens shrewdly, "Peter will keep. We'll deal with him at the proper time. Us…not you. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Dorea," he sighed.
"Sirius?" she probed sharply.
Sirius stared unflinchingly back at her for several long moments before his shoulders dropped, "Yes, Mum."
"Good. Trixie?"
A small elf in a tiny green towel appeared, "Yes Mistress?"
"Tea if you please…and broth and a nutrition potion, I think, for our two newcomers."
Trixie's eyes went wide. "Oh!" she breathed. "Oh more children for Trixie! Trixie will be getting her young Mistress and her young Mistresses mate well soon enough, yes she will!" At that she disappeared leaving silence.
"I suggest we head to the dining room," Dorea ventured softly, watching as Hermione murmured something to Draco that was too low for her to catch. Unfurling slowly from her, Draco looked around the room in confusion, as he had not realised everyone else had left.
"Oh. Right," he replied softly, tugging on Hermione's hand to ensure she followed.
"Potion for the young Mistress and the young Mistress's mate!" A tiny elf barked at them, handing over a vial.
Draco uncorked and smelled it gingerly, casting over the top to be sure. It seemed like just a nutrition potion, but he wasn't sure he wanted to take something he hadn't personally brewed. Dorea and Charlus watched him with sad looks of understanding.
"We don't intend to poison you," Charlus offered, attempting to muster a smile for the understandably paranoid boy in front of him. Across the table the Marauders and Lily were watching them with horrified eyes.
Draco nodded slowly, passing the tested potion to Hermione, who accepted it without question before he tested the second one.
"I miss Severus' version," Hermione murmured. "It always tasted like cherries."
Draco snorted, "That's because you were his favourite. He made mine taste like sprouts after I annoyed him. I think I was five."
Hermione laughed, "To be fair you were a prat for a long time. You deserved it."
"How often have you needed nutrition potions?" Dorea asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.
"Oh…um…second year after they woke me up from being petrified, although it was the standard one then. And um….fourth, I was dosed after I was held under the bloody Black Lake for some reason. Stupid Triwizard Tournament. And um…fifth after….well, after we were really fucking stupid. And um a few times over the last year when Severus could sneak us them," Hermione ventured hesitantly.
Draco shrugged, "Severus made it for me when I was ill as a child and….ah sixth and seventh year. He forced them on me quite a few times then."
"Dear gods," she muttered.
"You were in the Triwizard tournament?" James asked excitedly, visibly shoving his grief about Peter down, earning a smack to the back of the head from Lily.
Hermione snorted as Draco glowered. "Not willingly," she admitted. "I was the hostage that one of the competitors had to rescue."
"Stupid fucking Krum and his stupid fucking ideas," Draco grumbled beside her, pulling her into his side possessively, despite knowing he was being ridiculous. He'd almost lost her so many times over the last few years and he wasn't yet ready to deal with any of it. Grumbling about something as innocuous as Krum gave him some outlet for the terror he'd had to bury.
She shook her head exasperatedly, but her smile was fond. "I wondered how long it would take the caveman to return. It's been a while," she teased.
He looked at her, affronted. "He barely knew you and you were the thing he missed the most? Not that you're not amazing and all Princess but you were fucking mine."
"I think it was more proximity and ease," she murmured placatingly.
"Didn't the git have friends?"
Shaking her head again, Hermione decided to ignore him. It was all too familiar an argument and really….Viktor was barely three years old in this time, he wasn't exactly a threat. Not that he had been then either. For all Draco had been a curious mix of furious and terrified at the Yule Ball, their relationship too new to be anything other than precarious, even without the added years of taunting each other and the looming threat of his father.
"I wish they'd had it when we were at school," James continued, his hand blindly searching for the teacup Trixie had just placed in front of him. "Can you imagine Pads? Eternal glory…."
"Or you know…death."
James blanched at Hermione's tone. "Dumbledore wouldn't actually let anyone die!"
Both Draco and Hermione paled. "Except he did," Draco replied softly, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt. "He made a fourteen year old boy compete despite knowing he had not entered his own name and didn't want to, and then he allowed another teenage boy to die. I don't think he meant to…the death part, but there were so many things he could and should have done differently."
"Fuck," Sirius whispered. "Did you have any good years at school?"
"Um….we had parts of good years," Hermione settled on, squeezing Draco's hand as he cast over the broth in front of them, checking it over.
"Are you going to test everything?" Remus asked, curiously.
"Probably," he shrugged, offering nothing else before handing over the bowl to Hermione having deemed it safe.
"You learn to be paranoid," Hermione offered softly. "It saved our lives more than once. It's not….we don't mean to be rude but…you have to understand, an awful lot of people wanted us dead. There have been more attempts than I can count and while I've never been poisoned, one of my best friends was. Draco has been, more than once. And that's before we consider that not everything has to be deadly. There are a lot of potions that can be hidden in food that do other things….veritaserum, compulsion potion, amortentia, inhibition potion. I'm sure there's more. It'll be a hard habit for him to break, especially given how often the results were positive in the one place he should have been safe."
Dorea shoved down yet another round of tears, already dreading what the children were going to tell them tomorrow if this was casual conversation. She felt Charlus take her hand in silent support as he watched them finally begin eating with something nearing relief.
"How do you know me so well?" Sirius asked into the silence.
Hermione shot Draco a slightly panicked look. "Ah….well…technically you're Draco's cousin…removed in some way, I don't know…"
"First cousin once removed," Draco supplied with a slight grin. "You'd make an abysmal Pureblood, Princess. Your ability to remember any sort of familial link is truly appalling."
Hermione snorted, "Sure. Except the Black family tree is the most convoluted thing I have ever seen in my life. You could have started with an easier one to teach me!"
"She's not wrong," Sirius grinned. "So you're….Cissa's? She didn't come to her senses and have a wild affair and leave the pretentious prick did she?"
"Sadly not. Yes, I'm Narcissa's."
Sirius hummed. "You have her eyes. And mine I guess. I can't imagine Lucy was too happy with that."
Draco choked on his food. "Lucy?" he asked, horrified.
Sirius' grin was sharklike. "He hates it as much as you're imagining he would. Which is exactly why I continue to use it."
Draco let out a bark of laughter. "I'm almost sorry I never got to see his reaction."
"We'll see if we can arrange something," Sirius promised. "What about you….Princess."
"No," Draco growled. "Not Princess."
Hermione rolled her eyes and singsonged "Caveman," making Lily smile. "What about me what?"
"Any interesting family members we should be aware of?"
Hermione shrugged, "Many, but I doubt they'd be of interest. I'm muggleborn."
"Are you really?" Lily's eyes lit up.
"Yes," Hermione started before Sirius began to howl with laughter.
"Fuck I'll call him Lord Malfoy if I get to be the one to tell that arse that the pure as fucking snow Malfoy line ends with him!"
"Once we've got baby Draco somewhere safe and the mad snakeman dealt with I'll allow it," Draco conceded.
Sirius' eyes lit up like a toddler at Christmas. "You might just be my new favourite relative. Not that it's hard, I only really like Andy and Dora."
"Tonks!" Hermione grinned. "How old is she now?"
"You knew her? I ah…six, I think? Seven?"
"Yes we knew her….she was something like an older sister. A fun, always trying to embarrass you and make you blush, older sister. She's pretty awesome."
Beside her, Draco groaned. "Gods her sex talk. I swear still fucking haunts me."
"Tell me everything," Sirius grinned, leaning forward eagerly.
"No…please, come on Princess. You love me! Don't do this."
Hermione attempted to stifle her grin at his begging. "I don't actually know most of it," she admitted to Sirius. "You, Tonks, and Fred and George Weasley all took Draco to the library at Headquarters for a…um… chat about intentions and…um…safety? He couldn't look me in the eye if we were in the same room as any of you for ages. In contrast, your and Tonks' talk with me and Gin was incredibly useful."
Draco looked at her in abject horror. "You mean one of my cousins is responsible for…..Oh Gods….fuck…that. No. Absolutely not. I demand you obliviate me immediately."
Hermione was almost in tears she was laughing so hard. And despite feeling uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken, both Charlus and Dorea were glad to see her relax slightly. Everyone jumped as Sirius yelped.
Turning to look at him they saw James glaring. "What was that for, arsehole!"
"You….you were corrupting my…fuck…whatever she is…daughter?"
Hermione immediately looked horrified. "No. Merlin you can't be any older than I am! I'm not calling you Dad!"
"Why not! I think I'll be an excellent father!"
"Yes…to someone an awful lot younger than I am," Hermione conceded with a grimace.
James looked at her thoughtfully. "Big brother then."
"Why do you get to be older?"
"Because I am!"
Hermione scowled, muttering about annoying Potter boys and their overbearing nonsense. "I found Sirius' chat incredibly informative. Remus followed it up with less…..dramatic information."
Draco shuddered, "Fuck I'd forgotten that talk. Severus joined him. It might have been more scarring than the first one. My godfather should not talk about sex."
"Oh come on! It wasn't that bad….it was…."
"Fucking uncomfortable being lectured by two professors, one of whom apologised to you because he'd changed my nappies and said he was sure you were likely to be disappointed. Fucking arsehole. He offered to explain the concept of Ann Summers to Tonks so she could fucking take you." Hermione snorted as Draco continued. "I know it was insulting given how hard you laughed but you never did explain why." Sirius choked. "Fuck even you know what it is!"
"Do explain to the class, Pads," Remus grinned.
Sirius' eyes went immediately to Dorea and Charlus, both of whom looked serenely back.
"It's ah….um. A shop for…um adults. Um…toys for adults."
"Toys?" Draco frowned in confusion.
Hermione was crying again, clutching her stomach as she laughed. She'd never seen Sirius look so uncomfortable discussing sex. It was both hilarious and strangely endearing. In her time, he'd taken great pleasure in offering tips and advice to her and Ginny, even as they begged him to stop talking at points. It seemed that this Sirius was still able to feel some level of embarrassment.
"Yes…toys….that um…resemble a um….they're used in the bedroom," he settled on.
"I still don't understand."
Regaining her composure for a moment as Remus lost his, Hermione helped him out. "They sell sex toys Draco. I don't know what they sell now but in our time their range was quite extensive."
"What the fuck is a sex toy?!"
"You know that handy little vibrating charm?" Hermione murmured, darting a glance at Dorea who looked faintly uncomfortable again.
"Uhuh…."
"Well muggles have things that do that too….just without using a charm. Amongst other things."
"What other things?" he asked in horrified fascination.
"Ah….maybe a discussion for later?"
Draco's cheeks took on a distinctly pink tinge as he remembered where he was. "Ah sorry…yes. Perhaps not appropriate for just now."
"Perhaps not." Dorea replied faintly as Charlus hid his smile. Perhaps he'd embarrass Sirius later by asking him to take him. That could be entertaining. They'd take Draco with them.
"Um…you sound really close to Severus," Lily ventured.
Draco shrugged, regaining some of his composure. "He was my godfather. He was…strict and wore a mask in public, but behind closed doors he was a far better role model than my father. He was the one who was always there when I needed him. When Hermione and I first got together and I panicked, he was the one that talked me down from the ceiling. He….kept our secret and helped us arrange ways to meet, even during the holidays. And he played post owl more than once. We both used to write to Severus, using him as an intermediary. Me, because he was the one person my father never questioned me being in contact with, and Hermione because Severus could then pass her letters on to me without raising suspicion. He was the one that suggested it. And when the Order reformed, he convinced them I was safe so I could still see Hermione during the holidays, which is how I ended up being given the sex chat by Hermione's merry band of misfit men….and Tonks."
"How long have you been together?" Dorea asked softly.
"Since fourth year, so four years ish. We wouldn't have managed it without him."
"He never had an issue with you being muggleborn?" James asked curiously.
Hermione sighed, "He never had an issue with any muggleborn, not really. We spoke about what happened once. I'm aware of…things you probably aren't."
"He adored her," Draco cut in. "Not publicly, it would have been a fucking death sentence for both of them, but privately. We spent a lot of time hiding in his rooms at Hogwarts and despite wanting to strangle her on occasion for needing to fucking know everything, he bloody loved her. More than I think he loved me." Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "You got cherries! I got sprouts!" he groused.
"Will you tell me sometime?" Lily asked quietly.
Hermione hesitated. "I…Maybe some of it but he's here and a very real person. It feels wrong to tell you everything."
Lily nodded, "I understand that."
"Hold on….you said two professors!" James interrupted like he'd just realised.
"Oh…yes. Professor Lupin was our Defence Professor in third year."
Remus' cheeks pinked, "Was I really?"
"Yup. Best one we had."
"Uncle Sev would curse you for that, you know."
Hermione just grinned, "Severus was a fucking terror of a Defense professor. I'm not saying we didn't need it. We did, but he was fucking brutal."
Draco snorted, "He was trying to keep us alive."
"I know." she replied softly, a flash of grief bursting over her face before she pulled her mask back into place. "However, there was no need for those nightmare inducing posters or the complete lack of natural light. Despite the rumours, he was not actually a fucking vampire."
Draco laughed, conceding the point.